Canadian Solar Offers Financing for Residential Projects

Oct. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Canadian Solar Inc., North America’s
biggest solar manufacturer, is offering a financing program for
U.S. homeowners to build rooftop power plants with its panels,
an alternative to leasing companies like SolarCity Corp.

Customers may borrow as much as $40,000 for residential
projects, the Guelph, Ontario-based solar company said today in
a statement. The financing is provided by Boston-based Admirals
Bank.

The financing lets homeowners qualify for U.S. tax credits
and incentives offered to system owners, according to Canadian
Solar Chief Executive Officer Shawn Qu. That’s one of the
advantages of owning rooftop power plants instead of leasing
them from companies like SolarCity and Sunrun Inc., a model
that’s surging in surging in popularity because of its low
upfront costs.

“We believe there is a great opportunity to leverage our
scale to help customers in the U.S. residential market to more
easily gain access to necessary financing at attractive rates,”
Qu said in the statement.